A 21-and-over throwback festival in Washington County took an ugly turn over the weekend when a fight involving more than a dozen people broke out at EQT Park, with men and women punching, wrestling and piling into the fray as bystanders tried to pull them apart.
Cellphone video reviewed by CBS Pittsburgh shows the brawl erupting during the later hours of Saturday’s Tacos and Tequila Festival. The footage does not make clear who started the fight or what triggered it, and witnesses told KDKA the altercation moved so quickly that even people nearby could not explain the dispute.
Lauren Larimer told CBS Pittsburgh that she saw girls fighting before a man punched another man, adding that “you didn’t know who was fighting.” Washington Mayor JoJo Burgess said he personally tried to intervene and de-escalate the confrontation, and urged anyone who recognizes people in the video to report them to police or festival organizers.
Festival Billed As Food, Drinks And Throwback Music
The festival’s official event page billed the Washington stop as an all-day, 21-and-over party combining local taco vendors, live music, handcrafted margaritas and tequila tastings. The lineup of attractions also included lucha libre wrestling, art installations and a Chihuahua beauty pageant, according to the festival’s official site.
The event had already become part of the local summer calendar before Saturday’s chaos. Hoodline’s earlier preview described the Pittsburgh-area festival as a nostalgia-driven production built around early-2000s music, tacos, margaritas and tequila-focused attractions.
Pennsylvania State Police Handling Investigation
Pennsylvania State Police are handling the investigation, according to CBS Pittsburgh, which said it contacted the agency about whether arrests or charges would follow. Police had not responded by the time of that report, and no arrests or charges were announced in the available coverage.
For now, the video offers the clearest public look at the confrontation, while the reason it began and the identities of those involved remain unclear. Mayor Burgess said he hopes people who recognize those in the footage will report them so organizers can consider banning them from future events.
